DRIFTING LAURENT

(Laurent dans le vent)

North American Premiere | France | 2025 | Drama, Comedy | 110 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture, Mattéo Eustachon
Written by: Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture, Mattéo Eustachon
Produced by: Antoine Salomé & Joséphine Mourlaque (Mabel Films), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Arte France Cinéma
Cinematography: Mattéo Eustachon
Original Score: Léo Couture
Film Editing: François Quiqueré
Cast: Baptiste Perusat (Laurent), Béatrice Dalle (Sophia), Djanis Bouzyani, Thomas Daloz, Monique Crespin, Suzanne de Baecque, Ira Verbitskaya
International Sales: Best Friends Forever
US Distributor: Wolfe Video
US Release Date: TBA

Synopsis

We first meet Laurent, our affable itinerant protagonist, literally floating on air, his feet dangling over an Alpine landscape. Still a bit lost at 29, he takes refuge at a deserted ski resort off-season, ambling through his vagabond existence with all the creature comforts and embracing other lonely souls along the way. Then the ski season arrives, his cushy set-up evaporates, and he must confront what it means to be homeless and living on the dole. Yet his heart is compassionate and generous, and his spirit open, allowing those beguiling wanderings to guide and enlighten that carefree, seemingly-circuitous path.

Directors’ biographies

Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture, and Mattéo Eustachon met as film students at the Cinéfabrique film school in Lyon. Graduating in 2020, with screenwriting, sound, and cinematography majors, respectively, they have been collaborating ever since. They pooled their talents on the 2021 short The Ugly Ducklings, which Balekdjian cowrote and directed, Couture sound designed, and Eustachon shot. Then they cowrote and co-directed Mourir à Ibiza (Un film en trois étés) (2022) a collection of three short films shot over the course of three consecutive summers, which won the Prix Premier special mention at the Marseille Film Festival. Drifting Laurent premiered in the ACID section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.